Electronic Music fans dance to the music during the Winter White Tour headlining David Guetta on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012, at the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union archive)

Armory operators vowed to continue fighting the ban and expect to prove in court that the popular electronic dance music shows are no different than other large concerts, which are allowed.

"Just like it was Axl Rose up there, and the kids loved him in the '90s, now it's Calvin Harris and the kids love him in 2012," armory spokesman Michael Corts said. "To us, it's pretty cut and dried."

The determination has been two months in the making but came just a day after lawyers for the armory's management, Albany Basketball and Sports Corporation, went to court to at least temporarily block the prohibition.

A state judge refused to issue a temporary restraining order against city officials, who argue the parties transform the venue into a de facto night club that is not allowed under zoning.

In a 4-0 ruling Wednesday night, the zoning panel agreed.

The question before the BZA was whether the large parties, which at times feature multiple DJs and hundreds of partygoers in an open general-admission area, are allowed in venues that the city deems "auditoria," which is what the BZA designated the armory a decade ago when its new owners sought to transform it into a sports and music venue.

City code, however, includes no formal definition of what constitutes an auditorium.

The BZA has ruled that the meaning implies fixed seating, like what the armory has for other concerts and sporting events that the city is not challenging.

"The 'Rave' parties and other similar events now being conducted at the Armory and proposed future events do not fall within our prior 2003 interpretation ... as such events do not provide for fixed seating for each patron," the BZA ruled in a summary decision expected to be supplemented in more detail in the coming weeks.

Gregory Teresi, an attorney for the armory, could not be reached for comment Thursday. It was not immediately clear how the BZA's ruling would impact the lawsuit already filed against the city, but Corts said the venue would continue the legal battle.

"We feel strongly about it," he said. "We're going to fight it and communicate the facts and let the judges decide."

For months, representatives of the armory have disputed the city interpretation of the zoning code, arguing the dance parties — which they liken to "pre-recorded concerts" — are no different than concerts with a live band.

The city's renewed crackdown, which began last Friday when officials accused the venue of violating a pact with the city that required it to employ an outside security firm, has already forced the cancellation of two such parties since Friday. That's a trend that armory officials say may eventually sink the venue and leave the massive building at Washington Avenue and Lark Street yet another vacant eyesore.

The broader dispute stems from an Oct. 18 incident outside one of the events when as many as 1,500 partygoers were shoving to get inside, prompting a fracas with police that slightly injured three officers and netted a number of arrests. The armory subsequently revamped its entrance and security procedures, as well as how it serves alcohol.

Neighbors have also complained the parties are damaging quality of life in the neighborhoods around Lark Street, which they say are overrun with loud and often intoxicated young people on the nights of the shows.

The next show, Stuff Your Face With Bass, is scheduled for Friday, March 29. It will be followed on Friday, April 5, by a Pajama Slamma headlined by "Jersey Shore" star DJ Pauly D. The fate of those events likely sits with the courts.

Jeffery Jamison, the city commissioner of Buildings and Regulatory Compliance, said he believes the BZA's decision is enforceable immediately and vindicates his view that the large dance parties are not what the BZA envisioned when it approved the armory's rebirth a decade ago.